hotchkiss



B'. B'. nordest s s, o F- N uw 1 Y o n K; N. Y. 'Laim Pamela. 63,161, dated March 26,"1867 @La ttehiile referrer in it that etter gaat mit mating @tutti tige time..

T O ALL YWHOM IT MAY'C'ONCERN: l

Be it known that I, B. B. HOTGHKISS, of the city of New York, and coun'ty'and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Railroad Tracks, by which I mean the lrails, in combination with the supports upon which they rest, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact' descripd tion thereof.

.I will first describe what I consider thebest means of carrying out my invention, andwil-l afterwards desig.

nate the points which I believev to be new. The accompanying drawings forma part of this specification.

l Figure'l is 'aside elevation of a piece.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectionof a p'iece. Figure 3 is a cross-section on line S S, fi Q. Figure 4-is a cross-section through line T T, with kthe rail removedjto show the ledge outside thereof. Figure 5 is a plan viewi I V i Similar letters of reference indicate'corresponding parts in all the ngures. h l A A, B B, &c., are blocks of pine or other suitable wood, sawn inthe forms represented, and standing with the grain vertical. C is abcd of broken stone. D l)l is a. casting, the bottompart D forming a support for the lower ends of the blocks A B, and theiwebs D forming the lateral supports for said blocks. The upper ends of the blocks A and B may be grooved in a Adirection across the road; asiindicated by a, in those cases where it is desired to impel the cars by animals travelling on the road between the tracks. There are holesin the basel plate I), as represented, which allow the moisture to escape into the earth. MM are the rails, of wrought iron, made in any of the approved forms, and held down by spikes, Ml, or other suitable fasteni'ngs. These rails are `peculiarly supported upon the wood of the blocks A B by a ledge, D?, which extends up from 'the webs D, as

indicated. Those portions of .thenblocksA-A B on which the rails M are to rest are sawn down or otherwiseshort-v ened, as representedyso as to allow the upper surface of the rails M Mto be jlush, or nearly so, `with the upper ends of the remaining blocks A B. Intake care vto select for these portions wood which is sound and clear, so

as to possess as even a character as possible, and tofmaintain an elasticsupport for the rails for as long a period `as possible. wD2 is the ledge of iron abovereferred to.- Itis cast on and forms a part of the main bed casting D, and extends up sniciently above the lower edges of the railsvM- M to form a lateral support and prevent the same from spreading apart. In cases where it shall befn'ecess'ary to adjust the width of the track so that the rails M shall be a littIe nea-rer together than the arrangement here indicated, I canapply pieces of wood, iron, or other suitablematerial not represented between the ledges B' andthe outer faces of the rails M. 'Where however, thel castings l) D l)2 are made'withreasonable care, there will be no necessity for any considerable 'thickness of such adjusting pieces. My track, asrepresented, is particularly well adaptedfor the horsersil roads now very extensively employed in this country, where the cars are impelled by horses travelhng 1n the space between the rails.- The grooved blocks AB form an excellcntfoot-hold, and in order to keep this in` eonvdition for a long period, the grooves a may be filled with small stone or gravel, and the greater portion or the'.` whole of the surface of the wood may be covered with coal tar. The interstices.between the gravel may also be partially or entirely lled with tarry matter. In cases where it is desired, other sections of castings, D D, similarly filled with blocks, AB, may be matched against the ends of these blocks, and thus form a wide pave ment to the street, the sections for'the pavements being of various lengths and forms, and matched together ln various ways, as may be desired` p In such cases,- or in any case, I propose to provide an extra support, when desired,under the ends of my castings D D D2, which may be done by a largo stone, or the like, under each end, or preferably in most cases by a cast-iron plate. I It will be understood that the castings I) D1 D2, and their contents, are held together side by side, and that the rails are laid across their ends so as to form a continuons and uniform track. Any suitable variety of chair may be used to form an additional support at the joints or junctures of the ends. of the rails, if desi'red. I propose in most cases, however, to employ at the joints merely a. plate of thick boiler iron or of cast iron laid under the joint. In such cases I cut down the wood blocks A B so much lower at thosepoints as is necessary to allow the introduction of this support not represented.I I propose' to coat the surface of the wood under the rails M with coal tar or other preserving material.7 to increase their durability, whether the other wood be sotreated or not. Screws, spikes, or other fastenmgs may be .cent1 2 employed, if desired, to assist in holding tlie`ivhole or any portion of the blocks A B firmly down lin the ycells or spaces between the webs :D1 D2; A hook-headed spike, so applied as indicated by N, in `igs. 2 and 3, and a screw, with broad and sharp threads adapted to a very strong hold on the wood, is also shown' by'N-in the samec iiigures.` Figs. 1 and 2 show, in dotted lines, ajoirt which will exist inl my wood portions, when, as I sometimes -propose to lconstruct the pavement, the' portions o f the wood which support the rails are separate from the adjacent portions. In such cases the Wood immediately under the rails may lie with the grain longitudinal if preferred,`and in that position will hold the fastenings better than if upright. In' order to avoid any tendency (which in s ome'instances might become anevil) to form rats by the wheels ot' loaded vehicles travelling just outside of`my rails, I can extend the casting D Dl beyond therails, or can extend alternate pieces of pavements in this manner. I can also construct each'pece'of pavement with the joints at' the ends formed obliquely so as to 4present no jointextcnding longitudinally to the line of travel. In all such cases I can r'nake the edges Dz at the proper points on each piece so as to retain the rails M in 'the rightdistances, and theends of the castings extend beyond without involving any diieulty. Ido not consider `the ledges D2 absolutely necessary where the railsthus pass through the pieces of pavement, because the high blocks A B, o r portions thereof, adjacent to the rails on their outer sides, perfor-n1 analogous functions. But I propose to employ the cast ledges D2 in all cases where it is deenedrimportant to maintain 'the rails exactly in place without a possibility of spreading.

I do not claim supporting the rails of railroads upon thin supports of wood intervening between them, and4 chairs or the like metal supports, nor do I claim supporting the rails upon metal sleepers, extending across the track, except when the sleeper forms also a support'for a wood pavement, as specified;4 but having now fully desoribedvmy invention, with what-I consider the best means of applying itj` in practice, what I claim as liny invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows v I claim the construction 'and arrangemcnt'of a street-railway track in sections consisting of cast-iron cellu-b lar base-plates., in which arc inserted blocks of ivoodtitting therein, with the railsarrangc'd upon thc outer sides 0f said track, and held in `position as herein describod,.the whole being so constructed and arranged as herein set fortln B. vB. lIO'lCHKISi..

Witnesses! T. D. Samson,

EDM. F'. BROWN. 

